Girl murdered by Romans found in UK

Mon, 02 May 2011 16:38:41 GMT

Archeological excavations in northern Kent have yielded the skeletal remains of a girl who is believed to have been murdered by Roman soldiers.

"She was killed by a Roman sword stabbing her in the back of the head," said head of the archeology team Dr. Paul Wilkinson."By the position of the entry wound she would have been kneeling at the time."

The bones were unearthed at the site of a Roman settlement and studies showed that the girl was killed almost 2,000 years ago, the state-funded BBC reported.

The Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 CE, and the construction of Watling Street started soon afterwards linking Canterbury to St Albans. A small Roman town was built on the route, near present-day Faversham.

According to Dr. Wilkinson, the discovered bones belonged to a healthy girl between 16 and 20 years old, and her body had been dumped in a hastily dug grave.

"She was lying face down and her body was twisted with one arm underneath her body. One of her feet was even left outside the grave," he explained.

Dr. Wilkinson is the director of SWAT Archaeology, a company which conducts digs before major building work starts on sites which might have historical significance.

Wilkinson's team also found Iron Age pottery shards along with the skeleton which they say date back to about 50 CE and show that the victim was part of the indigenous population.

The orientation of the body also indicates her origins, as Romans buried their bodies lying east-west, whereas this body was buried north-south similar to pagan burials.

Dr. Wilkinson believes the discovery shows the true face of Roman armies and the way they treated the people of England at the time of their invasion.

"Now, for the first time, we have an indication of how the Roman armies treated people, and that large numbers of the local populations were killed.”

"It shows how all invading armies act the same throughout history. One can only imagine what trauma this poor girl had to suffer before she was killed," he said.